Government formation and cabinet types in new democracies: Armenia and Georgia in comparative European perspective

Abstract

This article is an interdisciplinary comparative research in constitutional law and political science on government formation. The article analyses the possibility of application of European model of government formation to models in the post-soviet countries based on the analyses of the constitutional frameworks and key political, contextual factors that influence the formation of different types of governments. The research looks at the processes of government formation in Armenia and Georgia and defines the extent to which the government formation processes correspond to the broader European experience. The article provides an empirical basis for further comparative research on coalition formation in Central and Eastern European as well as newly democratic post-Soviet countries. Article is based on constitutional system and political practice of Armenia and Georgia in 2003–2012.